Europe plans to launch two satellites to create total solar eclipses on demand

European scientists are preparing to launch two satellites designed to create total solar eclipses on demand.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the Proba-3 spacecraft in the coming weeks, which involves sending a pair of satellites flying in close formation around Earth's orbit.

The two satellites will be connected by lasers and light sensors. One will block the other's view of the Sun, creating an eclipse that will last for hours. ESA says observing these eclipses will aid in studying the Sun and understanding how it can disrupt power lines, GPS satellites and other technology on Earth.

Total solar eclipse phenomenon.

ESA believes the mission will also serve as a pioneer for other spaceflights supporting research on gravitational waves, exoplanets and black holes.

ESA has spent more than 10 years planning the mission, including developing a complex array of sensors that will keep the two satellites locked together to an accuracy of less than a millimetre as they orbit Earth 144m apart.

'When the two satellites are in the right orbit, one satellite will drop a dish that will block the second satellite's view of the Sun, creating an eclipse lasting up to six hours a day,' Proba-3 project director Damien Galano told the Observer.

On Earth, total solar eclipses occur about once every two years on average, and scientists often have to travel long distances, depending on the weather, to study them, while observations can only last a few minutes, said Francisco Diego at University College London (UK). That does not provide much time for scientists to make detailed observations.

Scientists are particularly interested in studying the Sun's corona during a solar eclipse because of its temperature. The Sun's surface can reach 6,000 degrees Celsius, while the corona is around 1 million degrees. By creating an hour-long eclipse, Proba-3 will generate data that will help solve this mystery.

"We will be able to study the corona in great detail and over a long period of time, generating information that explains why it is so hot while the surface of the Sun is relatively 'cool'. That will help us understand how the Sun affects space weather," added Diego .